CrOAK!
by TheDragonEye
Summary: A shorter story with a new twist to the standard EC. It takes place right after the IL Muto accident when Erik leaves the rafters to chase after his love.
1. CrOAK

**Author note: Alright, I know the last thing I should be doing is starting another story. . but it just came to me. As many of you people know. . (or don't know) I like to try new things. Put spinning 'wtf's on things. Well here's a E/C that no one has ever seen before. NO ONE (at least. . I don't think so). It'll be a shorter story so don't worry.**

**TheDragonEye**

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**Cr-OAK!**

"Poor fool he makes me laugh, Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Ha ha- **CR-OAK!**"

Then she tried again and along came another** 'CR-OAK' **and another until she fled off stage making Erik who was safely tucked in the rafters laugh to himself and cling to the nearest thing to prevent himself from falling. Ah, now that had been enjoyable. He told her not to take the stage after all!

He waited a bit longer and then- there she was. Christine Daae singing the role that he wanted her to sing. Ah, and there was Bouquet. Stupid fool. He enjoyed their little game of cat and mouse before the man was strung up and causing all the woman and men in the audience and on stage to scream bloody murder. Now, that was wrong. It wasn't a _bloody_ murder. It was actually quite clean and he was proud of his skills. No matter, people were fleeing and there went Christine and her precious Viscount.

Erik went the other way.

In a matter of moments the masked man found himself in one of the many tunnels leading down and about the opera house. One such passage he was taking, would lead him straight to where he wanted to be- where she was.

The tunnel curved and went this way and that, but not once did he falter. He avoided traps and went up and up from his previous descent into the darkness that were his catacombs. He did not cease his quick pace until he approached the exit. It was so useful to have his own ways to get about without being seen. So utterly useful seeing who and what he was. But that didn't matter. She was his, and no one could take her away. Not some stupid ignorant man. Not the heart of Paris. No, her true loyalties were with him.

Erik stopped and peered out of the tunnel for a moment and glanced about before sliding out of it entirely. He had arrived. "I told you. I told you exactly what I wanted." He spoke, his voice calm.

_"ERIK! YOU-A BASTARD!"_

Erik couldn't help but smirk and he crossed the dressing room he had just entered, swinging an arm around the woman before pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"Stop squawking. You'll ruin your voice, Carlotta. You know I don't want you to ruin it. Hence why I had to do what I did. You sound as though you're getting a cold, and you've strained your voice much tonight. Don't worry, Ms. Daae had quite the performance. Now if that didn't spook her then I don't know what will. But if you continue to disobey me then I might just turn my eye to that pretty girl."

_**SMACK!**_

"Don't give-a me that, Erik! I know you've-a gone to see her already, quite a few times!" Carlotta snapped, shaking her hand which was turning red. "Remind me next time to take off your mask before I attempt to do that again." She muttered and wriggled from his grasp and sat down at her vanity.

Erik shrugged. "I'm a man who doesn't know what he wants- A beautiful ignorant child or a gorgeous woman who is blinded by all the lights and dazzle." He replied, leaning against the wall as he watched her remove her make up. "Please don't wear so much make up. I hate it when you obscure your face from me."

Carlotta gave a small laugh. "I do it so that no one else can gawk at me-a, my face is for you-a to view alone, Erik. After all, for the beauty I have it is what you-a lack." She gave a smirk and watched in the mirror as he scowled.

"You're lucky I love you, or else you'd be dead right about now."

"Oh yes, lucky for-a me-a. But without me-a you'd have no one to warm your bed at-a night." She laughed as the parts visible of his face turned beat red.

"You know that's not true."

"No-a, but you're a man, and I know it's what you-a want even if you-a have never come out-a and said it." She replied as she took a damp cloth and began to wipe the make up from her face. "Tell me-a, Erik. We've been together for some-a time and yet you-a haven't made a single move to show you-a want me physically. I do believe I have finally figured it out."

"Do enlighten me." Erik replied at a grumble and went over to her dresser, popping the head of a flower off and tossing it in his hand before snatching it, crumpling it in his hand. "Stupid attempts to gain your love. . sheesh, can none of these men manage enough money for roses. That's how you tell they aren't after you for your money. Poor men can't afford roses and therefore make cheap attempts to win your love for your money and fame." He muttered.

"You're jealous. But, true. At least you-a give me-a roses." She took a brush and began to comb out her hair. "But you're avoiding my statement. Or trying to distract me-a. You're a virgin, aren't you-a, Erik?"

Erik let out a much exaggerated sigh. "How did I know this was coming? Well. I think I should let you rest your voice, after all. If you do get sick then I'll rub it in your face an not allow you to even speak for a couple of days."

Carlotta shook her head as he turned to leave by way of the mirror. "Oh, Erik, aren't you-a forgetting something?" she asked in a sing song voice.

The masked man turned and nearly stomped across the length of the room before pressing a kiss to her lips. "That ought to shut you up." He muttered before turning to leave again.

"Oh, and I-a love the style you-a gave me-a doggies."

Erik groaned, he supposed that the jeers would never end. But they both loved to pick on one another. "Good night, Carlotta. Don't spend the night drinking." He spoke before he disappeared the way he had came, ignoring the fact that the woman still had a smirk plastered on to her face.

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**Ending note:**

**Hah.. yes, I'm expecting quite a few 'WHAT THE HELL'(s) in my reviews which I am hoping I'd get. I told you people it's a E/C – Erik/Carlotta**

**-giggles- love me, hate me. I was in a weird mood alright? And no it's not the end. . I think this 'story' might wind up to be only about three chapters long or so. Unless I get a response to continue. **

**REVIEW! Please-a?**

**TheDragonEye**


	2. Conflicts and Christine Daae

**Author note: Hmm well. . I've had odd muses as of late. I hope everyone had a great Easter though and I'll be updating A change in Acoustics soon. But my thanks go out to:**

-**Nyasia A. Maire**

**-Stine **

**-Mominator **

-**RebelX**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

**TheDragonEye**

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**Cr-OAK!**

**Conflicts and Christine Daae**

That woman. . sometimes Erik wondered as to why he stayed with her. There were just certain people who piqued the interest of the masked man. As of late all it had been was that screeching woman. She hadn't always been that way though, it was just as of late. The fame had gone to her head, and obviously his attempts to deflate her ego had failed and just left one extra scared ballet rat who could have had a chance with her voice to make it big.

What he didn't understand was why Carlotta would make her voice sound like that when she had a decent one of her own. Now, Christine Daae on the other hand. . she under sang not bringing out the full potential in her voice. But she was innocent, a bit too innocent for all the years she spent in the opera house. Kind of like him. Yet, not. Was that woman more his type? Did Erik even really have a type? Erik gave a small laugh. Carlotta would have ripped out his eyes if she knew that he was thinking about the woman that was her closest rival under the roof of this opera house.

Perhaps if he did bring up Christine Daae and her voice then Carlotta will be spurred in jealousy to get her voice trained up a bit? It had been ages since Erik truly had given her a voice lesson and he was the reason that she was where she was now. Erik crossed his arms and stopped for a minute leaning back against the cold stone walls and glancing over his shoulder back the way he had came. Carlotta was no different then the divas before her, he had taught them all. Great voices, straight personalities, yet none had actually seen him before. What number was Carlotta? Four? Five? Around there yes.

Christine Daae would be six or seven, another challenge he would add to his list. With nothing more to do in his free time then composing then surely a man with a genius and imagination so broad as Erik's could grow bored sometimes. Or actually, most of the time.

With a heavy sigh Erik continued his journey down further and further bellow the opera house. He had made up his mind. Erik would begin to give voice lessons to Christine Daae. Oh how fun it would be to see how Carlotta would react when she found out. Yes, it was more of that kind of relationship. Carlotta would push him to the edge of his self control and he would do the same. He didn't know exactly why, but it'd be fun. Jealousy was one of Carlotta's bad points.

Erik grabbed a torch off the wall and held it in front of him as he neared the lake. Slowly he crept towards where his gondola was anchored. Only. . it wasn't there!

"Carlotta!" he growled under his breath and threw the torch to the ground, the flame being extinguished almost instantly.

Maybe showing himself to Carlotta that time ago had not been the best thing. At least when she thought of him as a ghost then she couldn't have tortured him like this. "One day. . I'll just Punjab her." He mumbled to himself and headed back a ways to take an alternate route to his subterranean home.

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"Meg! Meg, I know you don't believe you. But my father has finally sent me the angel he promised me. Oh, he must have saw what happened with me replacing Carlotta. His voice is amazing. . it's indescribable! And, that's not the best part. He has promised to teach me. He said I could be great! Isn't that wonderful!" 

Christine Daae was positively beaming as she stretched out on stage next to her dear friend Meg. The blonde didn't know what to believe, Christine's story was positively far fetched, but . . there was an odd glow about her friend.

"Yes, yes, it's wonderful, Christine. But keep your voice down." The young woman next to her advised, glancing up from her stretching position. "We have a toad in our midst." She giggled and turned her face down once more, her long hair falling in her face to keep her smirk from being seen.

"But Meg! I've waited so long I just can't find it possible to get my voice to settle down!" the brunette smiled and leaned back on her hands as she gazed up to the painted ceiling of the theater. The eyes of different cherubs looking down at her. "I wonder what he really looks like. He wouldn't show himself to me, or tell me his amazing name." she gave a small and distanced sigh. "But his voice. ._oh his voice_!"

"Christine." Meg spoke as she looked up to her friend, "Maybe we should go talk elsewhere. I'd be-"

"An angel of music, Meg! The highest being of song and notes!" her friend continued merrily along.

"Christine-"

"And he promised! He promised to shape my voice. He said he'd teach me to sing like an angel on Earth! I'd have all of Paris admiring me. That I'd be a messenger of heaven and be a great influence in the world of music!"

"Christine! There are people listening-"

"Oh, but I should not care what other people think! I know what I am talking about and soon everyone else will as well when my voice begins to take wing- as the angel said. Oh, I do wonder what he looks like. A perfect face as if carved from alabaster or porcelain. Oh Meg. . if only you could hear-"

"Christine!" Meg nudged her friend hard in the side. "A toad with hawk eyes is watching you." She hissed under her breath, slightly jerking her head in direction to the side of the stage where a narrow eyed Carlotta was watching them.

Christine gave a small, _'oh'_ and rubbed her side where she had been elbowed and turned her eyes downcast for a moment before rising to her feet. "Come on, Meg. We should go and see where your mother is." She spoke, tugging her friend's arm. In a matter of moments both young women were gone as if they had never been there- like ghosts. But they left behind a fuming Carlotta who had heard every praise of her new 'angel' that had come from her mouth.

Carlotta's lips twitched but they remained in a deep scowl. "Erik. ." her voice shaking in anger and her hands curling into fists at her sides. Oh she knew Erik was trying to get her angry.

And it was working!

In a matter of moments Carlotta had stomped away from the stage and had flung open the door to her dressing room, nearly smashing open the mirror as she made her way down the path to give Erik a piece of her mind, possibly even a piece of her fist as well.

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Erik closed his eyes as his graceful hands weaved the bow of his violin back and forth across the main strings. A fragile sound echoing throughout the cavernous space of his home. Back and forth the bow went and the sound continued to resonate back to his ears. Oh how such a sound could have lasted! 

"_**ERIK DESTLER!" **_

Well, easy come, easy go right?

Erik gave a harsh sigh and opened his eyes, his music continuing. But the delicate sound of the violin was in no way powerful enough to overcome Carlotta's rants that seem to be coming from everywhere now.

Finally the masked man gave up on trying to overpower he voice and he lowered the bow of the violin. "What is it, my screeching banshee?" he called, his voice a calm and almost feminine call of innocence. A matter of moments later a red faced Carlotta came from around a corner, looking quite bedraggled. "Oh dear, looks as though someone fell into a few traps." Erik chimed in a sing song voice.

Carlotta stomped her way over to him and drew her hand back, a large smack sounding off the walls as she hit Erik across the face. A wince crossed his features but even still he still managed to say, "Looks as though you remembered to hit the right side of my face instead of my mask."

"Do you know what I-a just heard?" she asked and Erik gave a shrug of indifference before settling his violin back under his chin.

"I-a just saw a certain Christine Daae, and she appears to have an angel of music teaching her-a how to sing!" she yelled and ripped the violin from his grasp, sending it spiraling into the stone wall in one deft throw.

Erik gave a cry of alarm and went to retrieve his poor instrument when Carlotta's nails dug into his arm. "Get off of me you psychotic woman!" he yelled trying to pry her off of his arm.

"No! Not until you-a give me your-a word that you won't teach Christine Daae!" she screeched in return.

"Someone's jealous!"

"Give me your word!" for emphasis she dug her nails deeper into his arm and probably would have continued had it not been for Erik managing to pull her off of himself.

"I already gave my word that I would teach her, you more than likely would not have been interested in learning to sing properly again. Your ego is as big as your hats!" Erik roared in reply and went to see if his violin was damaged. He knelt down beside it, cradling it as if it was a small child. His poor violin, the carefully polished wood was scratched up and two of the strings had broken. One of the knobs used to adjust the strings themselves nearly was broken off as well!

The poor chap carefully began to trace the scratches along his instrument, handling it with great reverence. It was like he had just lost his best friend and a saddened sigh showed through his blank face.

Suddenly a ripple was sent throughout his muscles in anger. "Damn woman! You don't even care for music anymore!" he snapped and turned around only to get a whack across the face with his discarded bow to his violin. It left him slightly stunned and he fell back into a slumped seated position.

"Erik, sometimes you're a bit pathetic. Look at yourself! Music, hah, that's all you have-a! You are mourning an instrument. You have-a made your life to be like this." Carlotta snapped, throwing the bow to the floor. "Honestly, why I bother with you. . " she shook her head and scowled. "You can't teach Christine Daae!"

Erik looked sadly down to his violin. He could fix it. He knew he could. But now he had another pressing matter on his hands. "I don't know where you have the nerve to come down into my home, destroy my things, and hit me a few times. Now you're demanding something of me? Of course my answer is going to be no to whatever you want!" he barked and gave a approving smile when she nearly jumped out of her shoes.

It still showed how much of an upper hand he had to her, sure, she could think him weak by hitting him a few times. But when it got down to the cold truth, she feared him. "You have nothing and no words to sway my decision, so you might as well leave and go and sulk in your dressing room- after all, it might not be your room for much longer."

Nearly every emotion known to man crossed Carlotta's face in that moment as Erik rose and carried his violin over to his desk.

"I underestimated you, Erik." She finally spoke. "I guess I'm-a used to submissive _boys_. You at least can stand up to-a me." She said, her tone impossible to identify. Erik didn't even look at her and once more a glower came to her face. "But sometimes I like it when things go my way. Whether I have to force a man into submission then it's fine. I will get my way. Erik look at me when I'm talking to you!" she cried, enraged when he sat down and began to carefully remove the intact strings of his violin.

Erik slowly rose back to his feet and brushed past her as he went to see what he could find to fix up his violin about his home. So into his room he went, rummaging about for any tools to sand out the scratches. Maybe he'd have to call Jules to go out and get the things he needed.

"Erik!" the man was forced about and his back to the stone wall in a surprise arraigned of strength from the Prima Donna.

"I really do not like that temper of yours, Carlotta. I would be paying attention to you had you not smashed up my violin in the first place." He stated, though he probably would have just set it down and moved off to his organ or something else. Throwing her into the lake seemed to be a clear option now.

"Please, Erik?" she asked, her tone gentle as she looked up at him with sad eyes. Now that nearly made Erik fall over in surprise. Her tone was almost the same as the first time he had met her. "You're making me feel so unwanted. . and. . it hurts."

Now the poor man couldn't even tell if she was being sincere or not. A shiver rose up his spine as she trailed her hand down his chest. "Please don't teach Christine Daae. I'll listen to you. . _but you need to listen to me_!" her tone had changed again.

Oh great. . there she goes again. .

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**Ending note: Ah, Carlotta and Erik. You can just see the many conflicts. –shrug-**

**Review? Please? It'll make my day/week/fortnight**

**TheDragonEye**


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